


you're sweet like candy

by newvision



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 10:22:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14376759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newvision/pseuds/newvision
Summary: ‘Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?’ is an age-old question, and no matter how many times Seungcheol has menacingly repeated it with his arms akimbo, Soonyoung simply flashes a cheeky smile and goes “Who, me?”





	you're sweet like candy

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i'm back again, and this time with a prompt that i believe was leftover as unclaimed from the snwu winterstar, until cat posted the link and i decided that i really, really wanted to write this one. so here it is my First Soonwoo Oneshot and ofc its a cafe au, bc what else would it be. ik i've got a lot of improvements to make to my writing style too, so comments and such rlly help !!
> 
> here's the prompt, for reference: “ik i keep coming to the cookie shop and for some reason its always your shift but dont you dare judge me i need these for my sanity”. to the random person who requested it, if youre reading this - i hope i've done it justice!
> 
> and finally ! s/o to everyone i've met in snwunet literally today, and thank you for welcoming me in so graciously :') im really happy to have some new friends i can gush about these boys to.

‘Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?’ is an age-old question, and no matter how many times Seungcheol has menacingly repeated it with his arms akimbo, Soonyoung simply flashes a cheeky smile and goes “Who, me?” 

 

Working at Cookie Encounters was an accident, to say the least. Soonyoung just happened to be a strung-out student of the fine arts university nearby, his days characterized only by the shrill alarm tone blaring from his phone and bleary walks between the campus buildings for his classes. It’s all because he was taking a walk down the street nearest to campus, skipping his painting studio and trying to find his higher purpose in life, when he sees the man he now knows as Seungcheol hastily hanging up signages in the store front. He’d stopped, curiousity lit by the complete desperation in this guy’s every movement, the way he was trying to secure the flimsy scraps of paper to the store window using only barely-sticky scotch tape, and the hand-coloured sign that bragged that Cookie Encounters was “Now Hiring!”

 

All it took was for Seungcheol to spot him and breathlessly ask if he happened to want a job, and the rest is history. 

  
  


It’s not like working at the bakery isn’t fun, either. Their convenient location put them in close proximity to 2 different university campuses, meaning that there were often people from all walks of life in the store, clamouring over cookie flavours and their space-themed decor. It’s also a little amusing, the way even the grumpiest, most tired looking teenagers ever will immediately light up at the sight of a cake with a galaxy mirror glaze. Soonyoung has never understood that, the craze over galaxy-printed t-shirts and hoodies and now cakes, but for a little bit of happiness, he’s willing to indulge them. Even if it took 4 hours to make one of those cakes. 

 

Soonyoung likes the routine baking, too. Most of the time, he’s down at Cookie Encounters by 4am, ready to get the ovens going and churn out enough pastries to keep the morning crowd satisfied. After working there for almost a year, he’s almost accustomed to the poor sleep schedule and the ever-present burn marks on his arms. Besides, baking awards him a kind of mental quiet that nothing else has, not even painting. When he bakes, he’s focused on the proportions, on the movement - carefully whisk, sift gently, fold the mixture so it doesn’t crumble - it keeps him focused on the moment, rather than letting his mind run over the hills of panic and fear and what all of this is even for. Baking keeps him sane, he makes friends with the regulars, and he gets to snack on mostly whatever he wants for no charge. As far as he’s concerned, it’s a good job, and he can take whatever it throws his way.

  
  


Which is why it doesn’t surprise him when his first customer that day walks in at the ass-crack of dawn, a mere 5 minutes after they’ve opened. Soonyoung thinks that this could be a new record, but he also swears he’s never seen this guy before - meaning he’s definitely not a regular, because if there’s one thing Soonyoung really prides himself on, it’s remembering names and faces. This guy, on the other hand, looks totally dishevelled. He’s got on a huge black t-shirt, black sweatpants, and a black cap that does nothing to hide the dark purple bruises ringing his eyes. Even the tips of his hands are stained black, presumably with charcoal. The only shimmer of colour comes from the silver spectacles perched low on his nose, which he reaches up to adjust every time they slip down a little. Soonyoung decides to turn his back for a second to give him some time to decide, but instead he ends up almost dropping his pan of blueberry muffins when he hears a deep cough. 

 

“Could I get 12 snack packs, with mint chocolate chip cookies please?” the customer asks, and Soonyoung wants to giggle just a little bit because this guy just sounds  _ so _ hopeful, like a kid asking their mother for a new toy. 

 

And then he processes the fact that this guy just asked for 12 snack packs, what the  _ fuck _ .

 

“Sorry did you - did you say 12?” Soonyoung sputters out, because he absolutely cannot be hearing this right. There’s no way. The record of those little bags he’s been asked for is 7, because even though they’re little, they hold a lot of cookies. He’d even go as far as saying one bag is enough to keep most teenagers satiated. 

 

Mint Boy mumbles in the affirmative, turning his gaze to the floor.

 

“Oh, alright then! Buying for a group?” Soonyoung asks distractedly, as he starts to pull together the order. 12 bags is  _ so many _ . There’s no way this guy is gonna eat them all by himself. 

 

“I..what? Yeah, sure,” Mint Boy stammers out, before he shifts uncomfortably. 

 

“Here you go!” Soonyoung calls out cheerily, handing him the paper bag that’s just heaping with the tiny bite-sized cookies. It warms his heart just a little when he sees Mint Boy take an unmistakable deep breath of the fresh chocolate. 

 

“Thanks,” is all he says, flashing Soonyoung a small smile and a few charcoal-stained bills, before he heads out the door and disappears forever. 

  
  


Or so Soonyoung thinks. It’s barely even two days later when Soonyoung finds himself face-to-face with Mint Boy again, and of course it’s at an ungodly hour, because why wouldn’t it be? All Soonyoung wants to do is finish cutting this batch of star-shaped Caramel Comets, not rush to bag 12 mint chocolate chip snack packs. The universe, however, thinks he should be attending to Mint Boy’s cookie needs, so that’s what he does.

 

When he turns, he’s surprised to see that his customer somehow looks even more tired than before. Instead of just the dark circles, it just seems like he’s fading away, pale and unsteady. 

 

“Back so soon?” Soonyoung asks, hastily dusting his hands on his apron and hoping it’ll suffice as sanitary.

 

Mint Boy mumbles something incomprehensible, before he clears his throat and quietly asks for the same order and Soonyoung wants to cry.

 

Nevertheless, he tries his best to pull the order together as fast as he can and ends up using almost all of his batch of mint chocolate chip cookies, and at this point he’s just grateful he had enough cookie inventory left. Call it instinct, call it luck - or maybe Soonyoung was waiting for him to make an appearance again. When he hands them off to Mint Boy, he gives him a smile and says “I guess we’re really _ mint _ to be!” and all Mint Boy does in response to his very funny joke is gawk at him, stuff a twenty into his outstretched hand, and walk away as fast as he can. 

 

Soonyoung thinks he might perish on the spot, out of pure embarrassment. Mint Boy didn’t even politely laugh-exhale at his pun. Nothing.

 

He’s a ruined man.

  
  


Later, when Seungcheol wakes up from a refreshing nap on the flour sacks in their pantry (because apparently this is what life as a grad student is), he almost falls over himself when he realizes how far their supply of mint chocolate chip cookies has depleted. He ends up clapping Soonyoung on the back and giving him a smile that actually reaches his eyes, for once, and Soonyoung doesn’t have the heart to tell him they were probably all being devoured by a single, very tired art student. 

  
  


The third time Mint Boy appears, Soonyoung has 2 goals in mind: to learn his name, because he now qualifies as a regular, and to make him laugh at a pun. Unfortunately for Soonyoung, Mint Boy is truly dead on his feet today. He’s swaying slightly, and this time he doesn’t even have a cap to cover his unkempt hair that’s sticking out absolutely everywhere, no doubt from his fingers carding through them in distress. His eyes are completely bloodshot, and he keeps reaching up to rub them. No spectacles today either, and he’s been squinting at their menu board for about 15 minutes now. Despite the gentle light of the morning, he looks awful. Of course, this doesn’t stop Soonyoung from realizing how cute he is, when his face is actually visible.

 

That’s an entirely different problem.

 

Finally, after another 10 minutes of awkward, squinty silence, Mint Boy pipes up. “Sorry, but you guys serve coffee right? I forgot my specs, so I can’t see your menu properly,” he says, and he sounds  _ so _ incredibly sad that Soonyoung wants to wrap him in a blanket and give him free pastries and--

 

He really shouldn't be thinking any of this. 

 

“Yeah, what can I get you? We serve pretty much any kind of regular coffee order, and if you’d like, we have a couple of themed specials like the Cosmic Dust Cappucino if you want something on the sweeter side,” Soonyoung says, offering him another smile. Mint Boy accidentally glances at him, and there’s maybe 10 seconds of eye contact before he returns the smile. 

 

And then his smile drops, and he’s apologizing to Soonyoung, his words spilling out of his mouth in a torrent.

 

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be rude or anything I’m just so incredibly tired so my reaction time is a disaster, and I can’t remember the last time I slept it was probably 3 days ago and all I’ve had are your cookies but now I really, really need more coffee because all the sugar from the cookies is wearing off, so if you could just give me your strongest brew and dump like, 5 shots of espresso into it, that’d be great,” is what comes out and Soonyoung just stands there, watching this poor guy on the verge of tears in this tiny bakery. He’s just standing there, his hands a whirlwind as he talked, and he’s pulling his hair all over the place again, and Soonyoung just feels so incredibly sorry for him.

 

“Hey, it’s no problem,” Soonyoung starts, trying to lower his voice into something a little more comforting. He really needs this guy to step back and breathe for about 2 seconds, but he’s also terrible at comforting people so - he’s doing his best. “I’ll get you the coffee, on the house, okay? Don’t worry about it,” Soonyoung continues, already reaching for a to-go cup.

 

“Wait, no,” Mint Boy says. “I’ll pay for it. And you can put it in a mug, I think I need to kinda collect myself for a second,” he finishes, offering Soonyoung a watery smile. Soonyoung shoos him away, because there is no way in hell he’s letting that poor guy pay when he’s in such a state. It’d be blasphemy. 

 

“Can I get your name?” Soonyoung calls out instinctively, reaching for the coffee beans in the cupboard below him. It’s only when he has his hand on the sack that he stops enough to realize his mistake, hitting his head on the edge of the cupboard in his rush to get up. 

 

“It’s Wonwoo,” Mint Boy - Wonwoo - says, watching Soonyoung with the tiniest hint of amusement in his eyes. 

 

Wonwoo, Soonyoung thinks, musing over it as he slowly steeped the coffee over its filter. It suited him.

 

Soonyoung eventually finds himself making his way to Wonwoo’s table in the corner holding a steaming cup of the strongest coffee he’s ever made, and hiding two snack packs behind his back. Wonwoo smiles at him gratefully as he sets the coffee down, and then takes a huge gulp almost immediately. If Soonyoung’s shocked by this, he chooses not to say anything, figuring Wonwoo has had enough to deal with. Instead, he holds out the two cookie baggies.

 

“Here, these are for you. I can’t afford 12, but I hope these  _ bake _ your day a little better,” Soonyoung offers, grinning at Wonwoo. 

 

To his surprise, Wonwoo lets out a laugh - a proper, full laugh - and gratefully accepts the bags. 

 

“Thank you,” he says, fiddling with the plastic edge of one of them. Soonyoung nods, turning back to his station, his heart just a tiny bit lighter.

 

When he gets back to his dorm after class, he’s not surprised to see his roommate, Jihoon, wide awake. He’s carefully gliding his stylus along his tablet, his brows furrowed in concentration despite the late hour. Soonyoung stops for a minute to watch him, completely absorbed in his work. He wonders when the last time Jihoon properly slept was.

 

That only brings him back to thinking about Wonwoo. It makes him feel a little like a silly, giddy schoolgirl. Today was his first proper conversation with Wonwoo, ever, and here he was, with his thoughts occupied by nothing but the little crinkles by Wonwoo’s eyes when he’d smiled at Soonyoung. In class, he’d even taken to scrawling new recipes in the margins of his notebook, little things he thought Wonwoo might like. Double chocolate pecan cookies, peppermint wafers, and mint ice cream sandwiches. Honestly, he doesn’t even know if Wonwoo will ever wander into his bakery again. It’s not like they’d exchanged numbers, or had any kind of particularly meaningful conversation. Maybe Soonyoung was just being stupid, overthinking this and giving whatever happened far too much meaning. He doesn’t know anything. 

 

Except - there’s one thing he does know. More than anything, he just wants to see Wonwoo happy. Again, in his chest, he feels the wave of doubt rise and crash against his ribcage. He barely knows Wonwoo. 

 

Unfortunately, rationality doesn’t necessarily snuff out desire, and Soonyoung finds himself googling recipes for double chocolate pecan cookies later that night. It’s simple, really - Soonyoung thinks Wonwoo deserves a break, and if the world won’t give him one, Soonyoung will. If Jihoon hears him clanging about the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning, he doesn’t say anything either. For Wonwoo’s smile, he’ll sacrifice a little sleep. It’s a small price to pay, anyway. 

 

When he shows up the next morning, dozing off on Cookie Encounter’s front counter, it’s with a line of flour across his left cheek, and a smear of chocolate underneath his right eye. Soonyoung is about 101% sure his face is swollen to hell, and maybe he looks like he just got back from hell, but it’s worth it because he just made the best goddamn cookies in the world. 

 

For a boy you barely know, the logical part of his brain remarks disapprovingly, but Soonyoung can’t bring himself to care.

 

Wonwoo shows up a little later that morning, looking slightly more well-rested. His eyes aren’t as glazed over, and he’s got a proper sweater-and-jeans outfit on, Soonyoung notes. It’s good to see him look happy, as he should be, instead of barely-there and dangerously close to collapsing. 

 

Of course, because it’s Wonwoo, Soonyoung can barely contain himself when he comes in. He bounces straight over to Wonwoo, and offers him the baggie.

 

“What, more free cookies? You really must like me, Soonyoung,” Wonwoo says lightly, laughing as he accepts the baggie.

 

Soonyoung’s about to laugh it off, to quip back with an equally flirty comment when he realizes - he swears he never told Wonwoo his name. He definitely didn’t. 

 

“How’d you know my name?” Soonyoung asks carefully, furrowing his brows.

 

“I saw it on your nametag yesterday,” Wonwoo says quickly, averting his gaze from Soonyoung’s. 

 

“Wonwoo, Cookie Encounters doesn’t have nametags,” Soonyoung gently reminds him, and Wonwoo’s face goes bright red almost immediately, all the way to the tips of his ears. Soonyoung would find it endearing if he wasn’t so goddamn confused.

 

“Wait - I actually have a confection to make,” is what Wonwoo says, and now Soonyoung just wants to shut his eyes and melt into the concrete floor of the bakery because, my  _ god _ , that’s a terrible pun.

 

“What is it?” he asks, stilll trying to keep his voice light and praying to every god Wonwoo doesn’t notice his voice give out in the middle of his question. 

 

“I like you a latte,” Wonwoo says, smiling mischievously, but he’s also wringing his hands in his lap and Soonyoung really hopes this isn’t just an excuse to make a pun.

 

“Are you serious?” Soonyoung wants to say, but it comes out as a broken whisper that makes Wonwoo snort. 

 

“Yes, I’m serious. I don’t think you’ve even noticed me, but we’re in the same year at school. I’m in your art history class. I see you around a lot, and I guess I just ended up being drawn to you. And then Jihoon said you worked here, and I swear I didn’t come in on purpose I kind of just ended up here, you know?” Wonwoo explains, a blush working its way up his cheeks, just when Soonyoung thought he really couldn’t be any cuter. 

 

“In that case, do you maybe wanna go out sometime?” Soonyoung offers because maybe he feels terrible for never noticing Wonwoo at school, but he’s also grown incredibly fond of him in the past few days, even though Wonwoo has been a sleep deprived mess who demolishes his cookie inventory - or maybe especially then.

 

At this, Wonwoo stands up a little straighter, the glint in his eyes returns (just slightly), and he says “I’d lava to.” 

  
  
  
  


“Hey Wonwoo, what do you call two cookies from the same sheet that fall in love?”

 

“What, Soonyoung?”

 

“A batch made in heaven!”

 

“Oh my god, get out of my room.”


End file.
